


it's the most wonderful time of the year.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: i refuse to admit there was a beach divorce (aka all my charles/erik fics) [71]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Awkwardness, Boys Kissing, Christmas Eve, Christmas Tree, December writing challenge, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hanukkah, Inspired by Music, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Male Friendship, Menorah, Mistletoe, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Secrets, Short One Shot, Tumblr Prompt, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21682468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: It's the most wonderful time of the yearThere'll be much mistletoeingAnd hearts will be glowing when loved ones are nearIt's the most wonderful time of the yearor:  Charles and Erik are attracted to each other but both feel that the other could never reciprocate those feelings.  But as Christmas approaches, Charles just can't take the weight of the secret anymore and he concocts a plan to get Erik alone on Christmas Eve so he can tell him the truth.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Series: i refuse to admit there was a beach divorce (aka all my charles/erik fics) [71]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1202509
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18
Collections: December Writing Challenge - 2019





	it's the most wonderful time of the year.

**Author's Note:**

> happy December from the artist formerly known as porcelainsimplicity. 'tis still me, just a different username.
> 
> Cuba beach divorce did not happen. Charles was not paralyzed as a result. Takes place in December 1962.
> 
> Day 5 of my December writing challenge. Today's prompt comes from someone on Tumblr, but I unfortunately cannot tell you who. I had this all written down but I lost that word doc in a computer crash and my attempts to find who authored all of the prompts were only partially successful. This is one of the prompts I couldn't find the author of, so if this is your prompt, please let me know so I can credit you! I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Day 5 prompt: "We’re under the mistletoe. Stop rambling and just kiss me.”  
> Day 5 title song: It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (My favorite is the Andy Williams version.)

They didn't mean for it to happen. They really didn't. But for a week, every time Erik had come out of his room shirtless in the morning to check outside and see if it was good enough weather to go for a run, Charles had come out of his room across the hall at the same time, and they'd almost ran into each other. Every single day. Charles had to quickly move his hands away from Erik's skin before he did something that he shouldn't, and Erik had wanted to kiss the very sleepy looking Charles harder than he'd ever kissed anyone before. But Charles didn't think that Erik would be interested in things like that, and Erik didn't think Charles would be either. They were both insanely attracted to one another and neither one of them knew it. 

As Christmas approached, Charles started to think that he really should just tell him. It would probably make things really weird for a while, and the team might pick up on the fact that their two leaders weren't exactly on the same page as per usual, but Charles would also probably be able to sleep better at night knowing that the secret wasn't sitting on his chest with the weight of an elephant. 

He had to figure out some way to get Erik alone that wasn't them playing chess in his study while any of the team could possibly come in at any second. He just didn't know how to do it.

And then Raven started talking.

Every night from December fifteenth on, she'd bring it up. And Charles thought it was a great idea. No one else seemed very interested in participating in what he knew was Raven's favorite pre-Christmas activity, but Charles needed them out of the house. So on Christmas Eve, he gave everyone else a little mental push. Soon after that, everyone but he and Erik were piling into the car to go look at Christmas lights. Raven seemed very upset that he wasn't going with them, telling everyone that he loved to go look at Christmas lights, which was true. But he had to get them all out of the house somehow, and that was the best way to make sure it happened. Raven would keep them out looking at Christmas lights until probably midnight, so Charles had plenty of time to actually do this and deal with the fallout afterward. Perhaps by the time the rest of the team came back, he and Erik would have reached some sort of truce.

Now, he just had to figure out how to actually do it.

**********

Erik finished lighting that night's candle, reciting the blessings that his father had taught him. Saying the blessings always made his heart ache at the fact that he'd never see his father again, never really know what his fate was. He knew his mother's. His father's would always remain a mystery.

He sat back and stared at the menorah for a while, thoughts of previous Hanukkahs when they weren't on the run coming to mind. His delight at the first time he was chosen to light that night's candle. His mother making sure he understood what the menorah was truly about. And his father, there with his small piece of paper, teaching him each blessing and its importance. 

He was glad to be in a place where he could actually celebrate Hanukkah properly now after years on the run, never staying in one location for too long. He wasn't entirely sure when exactly it was he had decided to stay there, but he was pretty sure that it had something to do with Charles. All of his thoughts about this new home and this new family were about Charles. He really liked everyone else. He thought they were shaping up to be a really formidable team when the next one tried to do what Shaw wanted to. But Charles was something different. Something that he'd been trying to deny since the night they met. Charles always liked to tell Erik that he was an equal that he'd never had before. Erik never told him that the rage and serenity he had helped him find were like the two sides of the same coin. He was the rage, Charles was the serenity, and together, they balanced each other out. 

He wanted to tell him. He really did. But he knew that there was no way Charles could possibly be feeling the same way, so he had promised himself that he'd always keep those feelings to himself. 

Before he could go down that train of thought too much, Erik glanced over at the clock, noted that he'd let the menorah burn long enough, and blew out the candles. He'd go find Charles in the study and have some scotch and a game. Charles was turning him into a better chess player too. 

He left the room before he could think about it anymore.

**********

Charles kept telling himself that it was just a drink for courage. But that drink had been about half the decanter at that point, so he decided that he probably had enough in him for some courage. He thought about how exactly he was going to do this again, told himself a million times over that this was an incredibly stupid idea, and then went and stood underneath the mistletoe that Alex had hung up near the Christmas tree. He knew Erik was in the midst of his traditions but he guessed that it wouldn't be long until those had finished, and then Erik would come to find him.

Charles closed his eyes for a moment before looking up at the mistletoe again. This was the only way. Then that elephant of a secret could finally get off his chest.

**********

Erik walked into the study to find the lights off, the chessboard not set for a new game, and Charles nowhere to be found. He wished at that moment that he had Charles's gift because it would at least have told him where in this gigantic place Charles was. But he didn't have Charles's gift, and that meant he was going to have to find him by walking around and checking every room he could think of where he might be.

Turning the lights back off, he closed the door of the study for good measure and then started walking. Maybe he was in his room and Erik had just missed him.

**********

Charles didn't know how long he'd been standing there when Erik finally walked into the room, but it felt like a thousand years. Erik walked into the room and said his name, but Charles didn't move, didn't turn around, just stood there telling himself that this was an incredibly stupid idea and he needed to talk himself out of it immediately.

But he needed this elephant off his chest.

Erik frowned when Charles didn't acknowledge him at all, just stayed standing there looking at the tree. He didn't have any idea what Charles might be in contemplation about, but he wasn't going to disrupt it for him. He walked over to the decanter and poured them each a drink, walking over to Charles and holding out a glass. “You look like you could use a drink.”

Charles's eyes came down to the glass and he took it from him, figuring one more drink for courage was probably in order. When this went as badly as he suspected it would, then he'd go grab a brand new bottle from the kitchen, lock himself in his room, and get ridiculously drunk. What an excellent start to Christmas Day that would be.

Erik peered at Charles with some concern as Charles knocked the whole glass back in one sip. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” Charles said unconvincingly, glancing up quickly just to remind himself of what an absolutely, horribly, awful situation he'd gotten himself into. 

But he needed this elephant off his chest. 

Erik noticed Charles glance up and did the same, seeing the mistletoe that Alex had convinced him to buy at the store hanging above them. His eyes dropped back down to Charles, and he took in the nerves on Charles's face, and he had to be dreaming because this couldn't actually be happening.

Charles knew that Erik had noticed where they were standing and so he just started talking. “It's ridiculously stupid, I know it is, but I just cannot have the pressure of this secret anymore. I like you, Erik, like a lot, and not in the friendship sort of way, but more in the romantic sort of way. I really don't even know why I'm saying this because there's no possible way that you could feel the same but...”

“I do,” Erik cut him off, and Charles stared at him for a moment. 

“What?”

“I do,” Erik breathed out, taking a very long sip of his scotch. “My feelings towards you are more in a romantic way, as you just phrased it.”

Charles stood there as that all sank in, and then he found himself talking again. “I know that this isn't exactly the societal norm, and I don't know if it will ever be the societal norm, and I don't even know if you're going to stay here for that long, but mutants aren't the societal norm either, though I remain firm in my belief that we will be, but anyway, I don't know if this is even something that we should be doing. And I really don't want to make things uncomfortable for the team, so I really think that they definitely can't know about it and...”

“Charles,” Erik said, cutting him off again. “We’re under the mistletoe. Stop rambling and just kiss me.”

Charles just stood there so Erik reached out and pulled him closer, bringing their lips together. Charles began to kiss him back almost immediately, and Erik tried to put everything that he felt for Charles into that kiss because he wasn't sure he would ever be able to give it voice. Charles had wide eyes when they finally parted, but then they came together for another kiss, and Charles felt himself practically melt against Erik as they stood there. The glass in his hand slowly slipped to the floor and the sound of it hitting it made Charles break them apart and jump back, and Erik just stared at him in bemusement. 

“What did we just do?” Charles eventually asked.

“Start something,” Erik said simply, going to refill his glass. “You should pick your glass up and come have more scotch.”

“Erik,” Charles said, unable to believe that the last few minutes had gone the way that they had. “What did we just do?”

Erik walked back over to him, picking up the glass and bringing it to the decanter. “I think you need this more than I do, and you're the one who instigated this.”

Erik brought Charles a full glass and put his hand on his shoulder. “I'm going to go set up a game for us. When you are ready, come to the study and we'll play.”

Erik stopped at the doorway. “And maybe there will be some more kisses too.”

**********

Charles stood there staring at the full glass of scotch for a long time before taking a very long sip of it and wondering what it was he'd just done. Then after a while, a smile came to his face as all of it actually hit him, and he took a deep breath knowing that the elephant wasn't sitting on his chest anymore.

**********

Erik walked down the hallway to the study, sipping at his scotch as he went. When Alex had wanted to buy the mistletoe, he'd said that it was for one purpose and one purpose only - to get Hank and Raven to finally kiss. Charles had found another purpose for it though, and as he thought about the feeling of Charles's lips on his, he was very, very glad that he'd let the kid buy the mistletoe. 


End file.
